Brook out of Alexander fight with foot injury
A right foot injury has forced British welterweight contender Kell Brook to pull out of his scheduled May 18 clash with IBF titleholder Devon Alexander, Brook’s promoter, Matchroom Boxing, announced on Monday.
Golden Boy CEO Richard Schaefer said he is working with the IBF to find a replacement for Alexander, who is to appear on Showtime at Boardwalk Hall in Atlantic City in the co-featured bout to the Lamont Peterson–Lucas Matthysse showdown.
Eddie Hearn of Matchroom was notified by Simon Till, a consultant in Sport and exercise medicine at Royal Hallamshire Hospital in Sheffield, England, that Brook was not medically suitable to fight Alexander on May 18 after having been diagnosed with a stress fracture in his fourth metatarsal along with an injury to his navicular bone which would require more treatment and an end to his training.
“Gutted to give you the news that @SpecialKBrook is out of his May 15th fight after scans confirmed he has a stress fracture in his foot,” wrote Hearn, on his Twitter account.
“And as gutted as we all are it doesn’t come close to how Kell is feeling..appreciate your support for him at this time.”
Matchroom also issued a statement about the 26-year-old Brook (29-0, 19 knockouts) in regard to Alexander (24-1, 13 KOs) on its website.
“Matchroom Sport can confirm that Kell Brook will be unable to fight Devon Alexander on May 18 due to an injury to his right foot. Kell has recently developed right foot pain… Following specialist review and investigations over the last 10 days. He has been diagnosed with a stress fracture of his right fourth metatarsal and a further injury of his right navicular, both of which require on-going treatment including withdrawal from full training,” read the statement.
“As a result of these injuries and the time required to recover he has been advised that he will not be medically fit to fight on May 18. Obviously this is a huge blow, and Kell is devastated. But we have had to make the right decision for Kell Brook the fighter. We will speak with Golden Boy and hope to re-schedule the bout in the near future.”
Brook’s injury is the third time the bout with Alexander has been jeopardized.
The In early February, Alexander suffered a “freak” bicep injury that forced the bout with Brook to be postponed from Feb. 23. Prior to that, Alexander-Brook was originally scheduled for Jan. 19 before Brook’s apparent ankle injury forced its postponement from that date.
Alexander is coming off October’s unanimous decision over hard-punching Randall Bailey, and Brook, (29-0, 19 KOs), October’s third-round stoppage of Hector Saldivia.
“We are currently talking with the IBF,” said Schaefer. “And our matchmakers will work with Team Alexander to find a replacement.”
Lem Satterfield can be reached at [email protected]